Tastes

Nose - Really rich fruity nose, one of the sweetest longrow reds yet. There's a very nice finish on the end letting you know these are wine casks and not some sherry cask. Light peat, touch of smoke, currants, aged wine oak, vanilla, and a nice somewhat hot spice finish. Taste - Opens with vanilla and sweet wine notes, then you have a slow drive as peat and smoke slowly build up as the oak (with wine notes) drive up. Rich with a distinct 4 different transitions. There aren't a lot of distinct notes here like strawberries or jam per say but a lot of just wonderful well balanced and yet perfectly out of balance to be a longrow red where big bold flavors are expected. I'm a huge fan of this series and the more I go back to this one the more I like it. 3.75 out of 5. Great stuff and well worth the 150 these are going for. Edit - a few more pours in and I got a try an heel to add that to my knowledge (my bottles still pretty full). Yeah I"m bringing this way down. There's a nice finish deep into this one, but it's just not that great. To confirm I poured a drop of the 11 cabernet franc red, and it's just night and day better up front, the 13 year cab does have a nice spicy finish that does make me think I'm being harsh but the up front is boring. Dropping this to a 3.25. Edit 2 I'm back to 3.5 and thinking 3.75. Really good stuff. My bottle is about at the 70% mark and it's really coming into it's own. The heel I had clearly got there way too fast!

I'm not sure what compelled me to buy this but I did and hey now I can share with you guys a review, and unlike 90% of the reviews I've seen, I didn't get the bottle free. Nose - At first I get really a lot of bourbon elements. Vanilla and light oak with some caramel and rye spice. Digging in more some tea leaves and "green" sweetness seem to come out. An ever so slight menthol. Then there's an earthy barn/oak not at the end. Taste - The taste unlike the nose is a journey and explosive. Opens sweet and fruity with orchard fruits and caramel meets some brown sugar. Then the spices come storming in very spicy, very biting on the tongue. Winter green mint, rye bread, tea leaves and perhaps some butter scotch (darn was that a note from the bottle or did I get it?). I have to assume the toasted barrels are imparting a good amount of sweetness upfront that's then balanced with some really spicy charred rye casks. OK this is good whisky. It's VERY good actually. Balanced, cask strength, and while I wouldn't call 6 years well aged, it's not horrible in the world rye. So at 180 for a bottle? Yeah the price is more packaging than the whisky but I really do feel this is a solid 100 dollar bottle which isn't something I say often about rye. 3.25, firmly above average and while it's a bit expensive, I'm not upset with the purchase. If you're a huge rye fan, this might be worthy of a purchase but you'd have to really be into rye for the price to be justified.

The overrated whisky of the year? I had this when it first came out over in the UK and felt it was young and off, but I had to buy my own bottle to explore. So is it better now? Nose - oak, a lot of oak actually. Then I get this under ripe banana that signals YOUNG whisky. A lot of alcohol. I get some chalk and perhaps some brown sugar. I'm oddly not getting much sherry but we'll come back with water. Water might have made it more dusty. A lot of alcohol and maybe some cherry now which I get in the taste so maybe that's influencing me. Taste - There's some dirty notes, clay, oak, I get corn oddly enough like a bloody butcher corn, cereal notes, and then some chocolate and some of those alcohol soaked cherries. Water opens this up into a more sherry driven sweeter dram. Still young, alcohol bite and yes some unique and interesting flavors. You know what cinnamon a lot of it, more than I've gotten on anything scotch. This is balcones malt levels of cinnamon or some versions of bookers. It's getting into red hot levels. I truly am not enjoying this. Everything about this is "craft" and unique which I want to be favorable for. It's just not enjoyable to drink. That said good abv and they clearly used an active cask. I'm scoring this a 1.75 but I really want to give it a 1.0 based on my enjoyment. I'm sorry I just don't get it. I don't like it.

Keep starting to review this and decide I can't come to the right words. It's an oddly simple whisky but hard for me to score and review. nose - I'm stealing from the tube but I'm with their notes. It's light oak with melon and pear. You can tell right away this is a very sugary sweet forward dram balanced by some oak spice. taste - spicy drying oak with this rich fruity sweetness that then turns to this toasted oak toosie roll. Very candied and spicy oak. The high abv really pushes this to tongue numbing, but even water doesn't end the intense oak bite at the end. Gragganmore always has a really unique finish that's a mix of sweetness and oak in a way I can't put my finger on. So overall score? I'm a bit confused by this one. The alcohol and spice bite don't feel fully balanced. Everything about this is turned up to 11 and it's oddly not enjoyable to drink. I still however am also in love with that toasted oak and chocolate with the pear and over the top sugary malt at the finish. So I think this scores a 3.0. 2.0 being average and a 3.0 being a really great dram that misses on exceptional or special. Overall at 155 for those looking at value I'm really torn. I wouldn't buy this again as at 155 it's no longer just a mindless drinker and at 155 it doesn't really have any wow factors. On the other hand it's CS and 20 years old and the age shows. So for that it's value. If you want a CS 20 year old to cut your teeth and want an OB, this might be a good way to do it. So I guess it's fair value but not for everyone.

350th review - didn't even plan this one to be an epic pour. I have a feeling this is the right whisky but the abv is wrong on this one. This is the 2020 release and their first standard 25 year release. I've had this open for a bit and finally getting around to review. I also have found Arran needs a few weeks to open up and I think we're good now. Nose - Red berries and a distinct bitter bite that reminds me almost of an irish pot still. Fruity jams that have sat in salt water with light hints of pastry and chocolates. Taste - This is just rich jam meets savory steak with fruity chocolate candies. The abv is perfect on this, warming rich, creamy mouth feel, I've never had a 46% whisky this rich and creamy. What's amazing is that everywhere on my tongue gets activated, and fully activated. Just swilling it around I'll notice even areas I rarely notice, almost puckering with intense notes from sour to sweet to savory. This is a complete tasting experience. This is absolutely jaw dropping. My only real complaint? Well the box won' close so it's worthless, couldn't even sand it down to fix it. 4.75 it's one of the best whiskies I've ever had.

Another whisky I had to add, when do we start getting paid for this :) OK so another insanely expensive springbank but I'm a weak man for this distillery. This one has been open a good couple days so yeah I'm perhaps rushing the review but this drinks perfectly from the start, no hint of any uncoiling needed. And thanks to needing to add this, I think I'm well past the 25 minutes in the glass so it's had time to open up in the glass which I think is critical for springbank. Nose - 25 years comes through loud and clear with plenty of oak. The notes are much more citrus and coastal in nature. There's a sweetness here that I almost imagine as being a watered down lagavulin even. This is vibrant with salt and peat elements playing off oak and springbank's lightly peated coastal malt. I know I'm somewhat repeating myself but I am trying to stress how perfect this is in showcasing the springbank character from the peat to the coastal elements to the renounced springbank dunnage warehouses and just their wonderful malt. Now leave the glass untouched and open for a few moments and a light sherry comes to life. Giving off some berry and light faint chocolate (slightly bitter). Taste - At 46% the dram starts a touch watery with citrus and oak play that gives way to peat, a warming of the mouth and intensifying of the flavors as salts and light milk chocolates start to form. Finally finishing with peat oak and sea salt. This is flawlessly balanced between all these elements and while these 21+ springbanks often leave the funk completely, the tired sherry cask doesn't over power the light residual funk elements left. The finish is long, incredible long and the overall whisky is incredibly flavorful and intense. Overall this is really truly a showcase of springbank. Even a few minutes after drinking. I'm a firm 4.5 out of 5. A part of me wants to score it less as it's 46% and a part of me wants more wine cask but the more I come back to this the more I enjoy the simplicity and complexity that's come off through perfect balance.

OK so 2019 release, 60% sherry and 40% bourbon casks. Color would indicate that the sherry casks weren't dead but not that active either. Nose - A rather nice mix of berry notes, perhaps even a captain crunch berry version. Some salt and campbeltown peat notes on the back end. There's a bright and lively note backed with nice baked sweetness on the back end. Taste - This really does everything boldly. It's savory with meaty peat elements, sour, bitter oak, then sweet backed goods with fruity elements from sherry and light chocolates coming through. The overwhelming sweetness comes from baked breads and hints of sugar cookies with the peat perhaps the secondary note. Everything comes at you at once and seems to battle for your attention. A touch of sulfur perhaps throwing things down the wrong path however. I look forward to seeing how this bottle opens up but for now a 3.5. Complexity really driving that score, perhaps not overall enjoyment of the spirit.

So I'm actually drinking the 2020 which is 95% sherry and 5% bourbon. I have not seen any notes on production but I'd assume 3-4k given the age and distillery. Nose - this is actually reminding me at the moment of a white wine, perhaps a chardonnay? The funk and peat give it this slightly sour note while the malt brings us some vanilla but then the funk of the sherry casks bring back elements that are more in line with a white wine. Very unique. The finish brings back in sugar cookies and lightly toasted oak barrels. Taste - Savory and bready sweetness, transitioning to oak and sour and bitter sherry wine notes. There's artificial sweeter notes here. The finish is long and complex mostly focused on those sweet pastry notes. This is my 3rd time having this and each experience has been different though trending around a central theme. Funky and weird but not in the more intense ways of most longrows. The alcohol and body here come off heavier than an 18 but the wine casks aren't playing NEARLY the role. These are tired casks. Each taste seems to change the balance from sweet or sour to bitter, now tasting much more sour and bitter. There's a level of complexity that's been achieved here that's remarkable. Longrow is boldly going as far away from the refined Macallan sweet forward drams as possible as they start off their higher end series. All I can say it be warned, this will note be for everyone, but the sheer complexity and depth achieved at 46% can't be under estimated. I'm at a 3.75 about an 89 though last night I was at a 90.

A bit surprised I hadn't put this one out yet but happy mistake I was drinking it and just checked. Also a happy note that this bottle opened up nicely after being a bit off on the neck and even a few pours past that. Yes, I got this for 53 bucks thanks to what had to have been an error in the system here in ohio, but hey it's nice to get a win in a state that has been handing out L's left and right the last year plus on the scotch side. Nose - So I'm stealing from @robertmaxrees on a couple notes here. So the word phenol is often one I leave out of reviews so lets just say this, this defines it. There's alll the seaweed brine and smokey ash as you can hope for. Iodine and all that laphoriag goodness. What's interesting are bell peppers (shout out), brown sugar, vanilla but more of an extract, and even some green apple. Taste - Again same classic Laphroaig peat notes as above. I still get that bell pepper which I now am going to be looking for in whiskies as wow that is just right out in front and in your face. The sweetness is however not say like a quarter cask coming in heavy vanilla but fruity at least for a Laphroaig, apple and lemon with even a hint of orange peel. The finish is all spices, and I mean there's so many. I've found I tend to pickup on cardamon a lot and i am getting it with maybe cinnamon and perhaps nutmeg, but there's far more going on in that realm. The overall profile here is of young, spicy, hot, and assertive whisky done in as complex and aggressively as you could hope for. I am sure I've had better 10 CS's from these guys. I am however not sure I've had such a bold and assertive version of any whisky that maintained this level of complexity and nuance. Sure a bookers is big and bold, but it's boring and basic as hell. This isn't that. Oh wait I left off winter green above. I'm just now tasting it on my gums and it's been in the nose and taste. Sorry back to the story (this one stays with you). This bold spicy and insanely intense experience doesn't get throw out with water, sure it lets you pickup on a bit less bite but there is still real complexity in this whisky. Sure you start to notice more that it's young and not overly well done on the oak and you see the flaws coming out on the finish. Yeah water takes away from our geeky love of CS whisky if you really take it down to a review level abv. Overall a fine pour that at this price I wish I'd driven all over the state to find more. Sadly the first pour felt too youthful and shall we way "green" (perhaps that bell pepper?). But with time opening up it's a fine whisky and worth of a very high 3.25 scores from me.

So dram 4 of my day off. I should note I reviewed this over on Mike's Whisky Reviews with well Mike but this is another bottle another day and another review. Hopefully I have a similar response today for distiller but you never know. Nose - The nose is beautiful lagavulin. Slight hints of peach over what mike loves to refer to as aristocratic peat. Red berries and sugars are coming in from the PX sherry casks. Some waxy notes and a big bold kick of smoke billows off the glass. Taste - A lovely lagavulin peat and malt driven by sherry. That said there is no balance of play here. It's a bit of a mess. Flavors just feel thrown together and you get odd off oak notes and strange sugars and peat elements just almost randomly. Water thankfully saves the day and pulls this one back into reality. Now with water it's a clean open with sweet lagavlin peat that really can't be better described than by their name and their name alone. Still it remains a touch bitter and the oak isn't playing nice. I have to say this is a firmly disappointing pour of well aged lagavulin. There's no lack of flavor or power here. It's just a poorly put together flavor profile. 3.0 here. yeah it's still quality good whisky but a hard pass at the prices this one is going for.